


Water

by flowercrowncurls



Series: Band Bonding [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: A bit Ashton-Centric, Established Relationship, Everyone loves Ash, Gratuitous Swearing, M/M, OT4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-21 21:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3704749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowercrowncurls/pseuds/flowercrowncurls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashton had just wanted a glass of water. </p>
<p>But, things don't always go as planned. That is something Ashton learned long ago, but never seems to remember until it's already too late.  So when he ends up standing somewhere near the couch in the living room just as the TV starts playing, Calum staring intently and Michael watching through half-lidded eyes, he should have just kept walking.  </p>
<p>But of course, he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water

**Author's Note:**

> The title really doesn't have much to do with anything other than the glass of water Ashton wants... really. This is part of a series I have different parts planned for this, all of them in the same verse but not in any sort of order. Enjoy!

Ashton had just wanted a glass of water.

But things don't always go as planned. That is something Ashton learned long ago especially after joining the band.  How can you expect much to go right when there's four 'teenaged' boys running around. He knows better really but he never seems to remember until it's already too late.

So when he finds himself standing somewhere near the couch in the living room just as the TV starts playing, Calum staring intently obviously excited and Michael watching through half-lidded eyes though showing proper levels of interest, he really should have just kept walking.

But of course, he didn't.

He never does.

“Oh god what the fuck!” Ashton practically screams, hating himself a little and startling Calum enough that he falls face first off the couch where he’d been leaning forward, eyes intent on the show. Michael chuckles softly, content as he stretches out over the now free space, wiggling his legs before stretching one off the couch just enough to knock his knee into the back of Calum's head.  He does it again just to be annoying as the other boy makes a show of sprawling out on the floor groaning while still managing to keep an eye on the TV.   

Michael hides a smirk into the curve of his shoulder when Calum reaches up to smack at him, missing entirely. And Ashton is still freaking out quite loudly.  Ashton strings a multitude of fucks together in a long chain of loud curses and it's enough to pull Michael's attention away from Calum's flailing limbs and towards the older boy.

“It gets better,” Michael mutters, small smirk to the corner of his mouth and Calum turns to him then glaring over the side of the couch, now completely convinced the older boy had in fact started the second season without him. Michael smiles at him innocently, wiggling his fingers in a wave before Calum huffs and turns his attention towards the TV. Michael is just started into a laugh when Ashton screeches at something else on the screen, tilting his attention back towards the TV show just in time to catch the tail end of the scene.

“Oh my god. HIS ARM! His fucking ARM.”

“Shhh!” Calum shushes at Ashton, turning to glare at the older boy as the opening theme plays.

Ashton ignores Calum until the boy looks back at the screen, the episode continuing. Ashton moves closer, hands resting on the back of the couch as he stares at the TV, he really wants to walk away because even the opening part is creeping him out - he hates Horror.  He wants to shove his hands over his ears and run from the room screaming at the top of his lungs, but he can barely manage to remember how to breathe.

He’s probably going to have nightmares for weeks but he can't seem to make himself walk away as the episode starts back up, eyes wide as he watches intently.

“Ash look it’s you,” Calum says basically breaking his own rule of silence moments after he’d been enforcing it. Ashton rolls his eyes at Calum, because the younger boy has been obsessed with the fact that Ashton and Evan Peters look a bit alike ever since him and Michael had first watched American Horror Story.

“Wait, what happened to the guy with the arm?” And Ashton has always been a noisy movie watcher, that person that has to say something about what’s happening and it’s never overly bothered the others, they’ve long since gotten used to each other quirks, but Calum shoots him an annoyed look. Ashton simply shrugs in return, looking slightly apologetic but mostly just disinterested in Calum’s back and forth attitude about noise. He jumps when Michael’s hand curls over his own, drawing his attention away from the TV for a moment, startled and distracted all in the same second.

“Come lay,” Michael murmurs, pulling at Ashton’s arm until the older boy crawls over the back of the couch and spreads himself out on top of Michael, his head pillowed against the boy’s chest, one of Michael’s arms wrapping around his waist and the other linking their fingers together. Ashton shifts around a bit until Michael opens his legs a little wider, lets Ashton sink into the space between them. “Now be quiet before Calum throws a hissy-fit.”

Ashton huffs, digging his chin into the younger boy's sternum until he's digging his knees into Ashton's hips hard enough to hurt.

“Bastard,” Calum grumbles, but he’s leaning onto the coffee table, legs stretched out underneath and he’s too ingrained into the show to give them any more of his attention. Ashton watches him for a moment, the way Calum moves as he watches, chest stuttering as he holds his breathe for moment before it whooshes out of him. Ashton attention eventually lifts back to the TV and he’s caught wondering how a trip for a glass of water turned into this, he hates things like this - gets scared far too easily for his 20 years of life.

He hates himself a little bit as the episode progresses, he feels himself getting hooked into the unraveling storyline and he doesn’t want to be - he highly doubts he can take episodes upon episodes of this shit, especially if there is going to be blood, he really hates blood. Halfway through the episode Ashton finds himself getting more and more confused, he’s not even sure where the plot is going at all even though he knows the basic premise of the show as a whole - lots of weird shit and lots of dying.

He also knows that Michael loves it and that speaks for itself really.

“This show, as a whole, is fucking weird,” Ashton murmurs when he can’t take keeping his mouth shut any longer, it's mostly muffled into the fabric of Michael’s shirt and Calum doesn’t even seem to hear at all, apparently completely into the show now. He can feel the vibrating chuckle more than he can hear it, shifting his head so he can get a look at Michael’s face. “It is. There’s blood and dying and crazy people and sex and nuns and what the fuck even…”

“Just watch the show Ash,” Michael whispers back, hand sliding up his back to fist into Ashton’s curls, pulling at the locks fondly.

“Not sure I want to.” Ashton pouts, his voice small and petulant enough it earns him a small quirk to the corners of Michael’s mouth. The younger boy always does find it amusing whenever Ashton acted like a child.

 

The first episode ends with Calum jumping to his feet and clapping dramatically for a few seconds before he drops back down to the floor. Michael is caught somewhere between asleep and awake, eyes blinking slowly with Ashton curled up on top of him, fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt knuckles pressing a little to harshly into his ribs. Michael can feel the slight shake to the older boy, doesn't understand how Ashton can manage to be scared of the silliest things, but doesn't point it out as he pulls at the older boy softly, trying to get him to move.

“Legs are falling asleep,” Michael murmurs as Calum searches for the remote, shoving things around, haphazardly making a mess of everything that Ashton cleaned just this morning. It isn't really anything new though, so neither of them pay any attention as Calum pushes a stack of papers onto the floor, the sheets spreading out in disarray. Ashton will probably get pissed about it tomorrow when he's the one cleaning it all up again, but it'll just happen again, like always.

Ashton wiggles away when Michael starts to push at his shoulders and groaning in annoyance. He slithers down the length of Michael's body, grinning up at the boy when his face rubs over the zip of his jeans but Michael just rolls his eyes and shoves at Ashton’s face until the older boy rolls from the couch, jumping to his feet with a crack of his back.

Michael watches Ashton stretch, objectively appreciates the slim thin line of skin that shows when he reaches over his head, hips jutting out above his jeans that are riding lower than usual, barely covering the swell of his ass. He appreciates a little bit more of Ashton when the boy reaches for his toes, whining as his back snaps and crackles.

“You’re so old,” Calum teases, shooting the boy a look as he stretches further, his back popping loudly. He catches Michael’s eyes as his best friend stealthily tries to shift his gaze away from Ashton’s ass, but Calum knows Michael as well as he knows himself. He raises his eyebrows, wiggling them suggestively when Michael just stares blankly back, silently celebrating in the barely there flush that settles over pale cheeks before he goes back in search of the remote. “FINALLY!” Calum cheers in triumph, crawling from beneath the coffee table with the remote held tightly in his hand like a trophy. Ashton smiles indulgently, patting at Calum’s hair giggling as the boy nips at his finger tips.

Calum pulls at Ashton, crowing in triumph when Ashton trips over his own feet and falls down into a tangle of limbs with him, giggling loudly as he rolls across the floor arms wrapped tightly around Ashton's middle.

"Ow. Fuck Calum," Ashton complains as his hip catches on the table but Calum just keeps wiggling around, completely unconcerned. Michael watches them, frowning softy, his legs are still a little tingling but he feels cold in the absence of Ashton’s body draped over his own. He flips Calum off when the boy sends him a look and he chooses to ignore the boy as he bites down hard onto the junction between Ashton's neck and shoulder.  Michael can't help but watch though, as Ashton wiggles away with a groan, smacking in the general direction of Calum's laughing face but missing by quite a lot

Ashton scrambles away from Calum, screeching wildly when the boy grabs at his ankles and attempts to pull him back. His screeches shift into laughter when his foot connects with the center of Calum's chest and sends the boy tipping back over, he jumps to his feet dancing a few feet away, laughter still falling from his mouth, eyes dancing in the dim light of the room.

He heads towards the kitchen, still wanting that glass of water.

“Aren’t you watching?” Calum whines, rubbing a hand over his chest and glaring at Michael as the boy tries to cover his own laughter behind his hand. "Where are you going?" Calum questions loudly as Ashton ignores him, concern lacing his voice as Ashton walks back through the room heading towards the stairs without a word or glance in their direction. The older boy stops, glass of water held awkwardly halfway between his side and mouth, turning to look over his shoulder.

"I didn’t want to really watch in the first place -” Ashton trails off as Calum’s face drops, he hates when any of the boys look sad, can barely handle telling them No more than half the time because they’ve perfected pouty faces that rip into his heart. He starts up his mantra of _you don't have to say yes_ , in his head before either of them can start talking. 

“Oh.” Calum mumbles, pulling at his shirt, fingers fiddling with the remote.

“Stay,” Michael rasps out, startled at how deep his voice sounds, he clears his throat. “Stay Ash.”

Ashton shifts, lifting his free hand to rub at the back of his neck. He blinks up as Luke comes thundering down the stairs, barely managing to get out of the way before the boy barrels into him. Luke is all flailing limbs as he skids across the floor, socked feet slipping on the wood surface. He looks up, sheepish and grinning and excited as he bounces in place.

“Hey!” Luke chirps loudly, voice seeming to echo around the otherwise quiet room, leaning in to press a sloppy wet kiss against the curve of Ashton's cheek. His face lights up in a smile when Ashton ducks his head, red flushing across his cheeks.

“Hello,” Michael drawls, shifting to sit up on the couch, eyes bored but mouth twitching at the corner.

“Soooo,” Luke drags out the word as long as he can manage, smiling when Calum’s eyes start to narrow into a glare. “What are you guys doing?”

“American Horror Story.”

“Oh,” Luke’s mood shifts slightly, voice less happy than seconds before.

“We can watch something else,” Calum starts, trying to hide the disappointment from his face. He apparently succeeds or Luke is just blind, because the youngest boy is jumping in place and smiling like it's Christmas morning.  Ashton wouldn't be all that surprised if he started clapping his hands and cheering. 

“Okay!” Luke hops across the room, dropping down onto the floor next to Calum instead of onto the more comfortable couch.

“What? Do I have fucking cooties,” Michael complains, laying back down and making a show of stretching across the couch, kicking his legs and throwing a tantrum more fitting of a 3 year old.

“No,” Luke blinks, tilting his head back to knocking against Michael’s hip. “Of course not.” Michael resists the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes because Luke is such an idiot sometimes, adorably so but still such an idiot. Luke's mouth curls down into a frown and Michael blinks at him for a moment. “Lets watch Frozen!” Luke cheers as Calum flips through Netflix.

“No,” Michael whines. “Fuck no.” Luke pouts, turning toward Ashton with his lip jutted out and his blue eyes far too wide for the proportions of his face.

“Hey, that’s not fair.” Calum gripes, elbowing the youngest in the side but it doesn’t deter Luke if anything it only makes him more determined to get his way, hands lifting to link together in front of his chest as he all but whimpers in Ashton’s direction.

“Fuck,” Ashton turns his head away, running his fingers through his messy hair.

“Don’t look!” Michael yells, reaching over to slap his hand over Luke’s face, laughing wickedly as the boy whines and tries to bite at his fingers. It hurts when Luke manages to get his sharp teeth around his pinkie, but it’s worth it because he’s no longer looking towards Ashton with his stupid eyes and his stupid mouth and his stupid cute everything.

“I want to go to bed,” Ashton says, feet itching to just run up the stairs and slam his door behind him. He feels unnaturally tired today, throat a little itchy and eyes dry as he rubs at them. He should probably go put his glasses on. He makes his way up the stairs.

“HEY! Where the hell are you going? This is band bonding time, asshole.” Calum screeches up after him. Ashton rolls his eyes, they’re all so overdramatic about everything.

“Eyes hurt,” Ashton says in way of explanation, continuing towards his bathroom. He takes his time taking out his contacts, washing his face, getting into a pair of baggy sweats that probably aren’t even his before he tracks down his glasses and shoves them on. He snags his blanket as he leaves the room, quietly making his way back downstairs and hoping they’ve sorted out something to watch without a fight breaking out.

 

He peeks into the room, sighing when he notices no one seems to be upset or crying and nothing seems to be broken. Luke is cuddled up into Calum’s side, as they go back and forth pressing the button. Michael hums every once in a while when they pause over a movie to read the description.

“Let’s watch something funny,” Calum offers as Ashton slips into the room smiling up at the older boy, staring for a few moments longer when he realizes Ashton is wearing glasses. Luke presses the button a few times while Calum’s otherwise distracted, smiling in triumph as he shifts through to a hoard of Romantic sounding titles.

“Pitch Perfect,” Michael murmurs, eyes shifting to Ashton as the older boy steps over Luke and settles onto the small space on the opposite side of the couch, carefully maneuvering around Michael’s feet. Michael watches the older boy with fond eyes, before he hooks his foot around Ashton’s elbow drawing the other’s attention to him. Ashton smiles easily, sleepy around the edges, his eyes seeming so much bigger behind the lens of his glasses. “C’mere.”

Ashton hesitates for a moment, teeth biting at his lip before he moves over Michael. He frowns for a moment, hovering on his knees, before he’s moving Michael sliding the boy onto his side and pushing him towards the back of the couch. Michael catches on a few seconds later, wiggling himself as far back as he can get as Ashton slides in front of him, curving back into the younger boy and throwing the blanket over the both of them. Michael wiggles a little bit, trying to get his legs comfortable but his skinny jeans are digging in all the wrong places.

“Hold on,” Michael says, softly pushing Ashton forward a bit. “Slide up for a minute,” Ashton moves forward, body pressing into the back of Luke and Calum as he goes, he drops his hand on Calum’s head pulling at the boy’s hair as him and Luke continue to murmur back and forth about what to watch.

“Going to be morning before you decide,” Ashton offers, grinning when Luke sticks his tongue out at him. He jostles when Michael’s knee knocks into his back, as he tries to wiggle out of his jeans. He goes cross eyed as he tries to look behind him, figure out what the hell the younger boy is doing moving around all over the place.

“Finally,” Michael says, huffing loudly as he throws his jeans over Ashton, laughing when they land directly on Luke.

“The hell?” Luke startles, plucking the jeans from his head and throwing them across the room with an annoyed huff. He glares at the article of clothing like it’s offended him for a few moments, Calum taking the opportunity to fly past all the Disney movies at lightening speed. “Why are you stripping?”

“They were uncomfortable.” Michael settles back into his previous place, back up against the couch as he reaches for Ashton, fingers grabbing at the boy’s waist and tugging softly. “Come back now.” Ashton’s shaking his head as he rolls back into Michael’s arms, wiggling his hips back into the cradle of Michael’s, laughing at the way Michael whines.

“Maybe I’ll take my pants off too,” Calum offers up, like he’s talking about the weather or what he ate for lunch yesterday. Luke stares at him for moment, finger on the remote, before he bursts into laughter. Ashton reaches out, smacking at the back of Calum’s head, but then his fingers knot in his hair and tug softly, smiling when Calum leans into the touch, tilting his head to get a good look at Ashton.

Calum is laughing when Ashton leans just enough to press a kiss against the corner of his mouth.

“Pick a movie,” Ashton groans into the boy’s mouth as he pulls away, patting Calum’s cheek affectionately. Calum smiles indulgently and presses play on the next interesting looking movie he comes across.

“Get the lights Luke,” Calum orders, pushing at the boy.

“You get the lights,” Luke pushes back.

“Lucas,” Ashton says softly, tapping his fingers against Luke’s shoulder softly. The youngest turns to him equipped with big wide eyes, jutting bottom lip and puffy cheeks. Ashton blinks at him, fights the smile by biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes narrowing slightly when Luke still keeps looking at him.

“Okay,” Luke gives up, moving in a flurry of limbs across the room and slapping at the light switches before stomping back across the room as noisily as possible. He sits on the other side of Calum, closer to Ashton’s face and nearly blocking his and Michael’s view of the TV. He’s petulant, which is nothing new really, but for a moment he looks so young face all curled up like it was years ago when Ashton had first seen him outside that movie theater; young and sweet and shy. It makes Ashton's chest ache as he gets lost in a loop of memories for a few long seconds. “Kiss!”

Ashton rolls his eyes, but gives the boy what he wants all the same. He’s pulling away after barely pressing against the younger boy’s mouth, startling when Luke grips the sides of his face and holds him there, slotting their mouths together and licking into Ashton’s mouth that opens around a surprised gasp. Ashton melts into the touch, into the kiss, into the warmth of Luke.

Only managing to pull back when Calum is whining about them missing the beginning of the movie. He shifts back, biting at the thumb Luke swipes over his lip as the boy smirks at him before turning towards the TV and settling into Calum’s side.

Ashton sighs, sliding back against Michael as the boy’s arms tighten around his middle. He jumps when the boy’s cold fingers find their way beneath his shirt to press against his stomach, dipping into his bellybutton for half a second before they settle, just above the waistline of his sweats. He gets lost in the movement of Michael’s chest as he breathes, Ashton’s own lungs slowing to match the younger boy. Their hearts start to beat in time and Ashton is moved by the rhythm that it makes, the sounds of their lives intertwined together and he forgets about the screen, closing his eyes and just taking in the moment.

“Love you,” Michael whispers so so softly that its barely more than a breath of air against Ashton’s ear, but he hears it all the same all the way to the very center part of his heart and he feels it all the way down to the tips of his toes when Michael presses his mouth to the curve of Ashton’s neck open mouthed and warm.

“Love you.” Ashton says, to the room as a whole. Luke and Calum's soft murmured answers are caught up in the sounds of the movie but he doesn’t need to hear the actual words to know. Ashton falls asleep without ever knowing what movie Calum finally picked. Doesn't get to enjoy the way Luke's giggle carries through the room, or how Calum loses it and falls into a fit of hysterical laughter around 43 minutes in. He misses the way Michael snorts a few times, covering his laughter with a hand or the curve of Ashton's shoulder.

He misses the entire thing, start to finish, because less than 5 minutes in he's turning around and nuzzling into Michael's neck, working his way up to the boy's mouth to slot their lips together for a minute before he's pulling back heavy-lidded and boneless.  Michael's smile is soft, his eyes softer as he brushes this thumb across the purple marring the skin beneath Ashton's eyes.  The older boy goes cross eyed for a moment as Michael hooks a finger around his frames and slides them off his face, pressing a kiss to the slope of his nose.

"Go to sleep Ash," Michael murmurs.  2 minutes more and he is asleep, curled up in Michael's arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought and maybe what you'd like to see in the series... I'm always open to listening to suggestions!!


End file.
